It’s no secret that online reviews are an important component of our digital strategy. Many prospects and most family members read reviews before they ever set foot in one of our buildings. They’ll use reviews to learn what others think, see how our associates respond to comments, and winnow down their list of candidate communities. We treat reviews as critical. So critical that The Studio’s Digital Marketing team revamped our Reviews Management Program in April 2022 — and it’s paying significant dividends.
In 2023, we drove the number of community reviews up by 234% and increased our average star rating by 12%. Positive Online Reviews is a KPI, and communities have a commitment to generate at least six positive online reviews every month. The KPIs’ status reports see a lot of healthy competition and dialogue — smack-talking, you might say — in which community and Resource Center team members spar and encourage one another to beat previous months’ results.
Here's just one real-world example of these results and how we’re helping families make decisions: In a California Watermark community last fall, a prospect was researching for memory care for her husband, landed on our Google Reviews, read through them, called our community, came in for a tour, and deposited for both her husband and herself — all in the same day.
In an SHN Sales Conference webinar on January 30, our National Director of Marketing & Sales, Troy Hollar, shared more about how reviews are impacting the way we market our communities (see ‘Solid Momentum’: Watermark, Heritage, Treplus Hone Sales Strategies for 2024).
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